R-3 Board Talks Insurance, Goals, Security

The Brookfield R-3 Board of Education met in special session Monday night with Board member Stu McMains absent and President Jeff Vogel arriving late. This meeting was held to wrap up items from the recent meeting that Superintendent Dr. Paul Barger missed due to illness.

The Brookfield R-3 Board of Education met in special session Monday night with Board member Stu McMains absent and President Jeff Vogel arriving late. This meeting was held to wrap up items from the recent meeting that Superintendent Dr. Paul Barger missed due to illness.

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Vice President Dennis Fletcher. After the Pledge of Allegiance, the agenda was amended and approved unanimously, after a motion and second by Jim McIntyre and Marc Amer, respectively.

The Board then discussed the recent health insurance bids, and some possible confusion from potential brokers. During this discussion, President Vogel arrived at the meeting. Information was sent to Jason Weydert, and the question was raised as to whether or not the District is seeking one or three- year bids.

The Board discussed this matter and noted that the motion from the Board was to seek agents for one year bids. However, the District had the option to retain that agent for more time. Also, with the coming changes in health care legislation, the District will face restrictions concerning their health care options.

Dr. Barger noted that he does not have a preference as to the District being a solo buyer, or joining a consortium for health insurance. But the sticking point is that some legislation on the books will make school districts choose their options, and will limit their further options in the future.

A clarification will be sent to all of the interested brokers and should clarify any confusion that they may have had.

Dr. Barger reminded the Board of the pending election. The terms of Jim McIntyre and Stu McMains are ending. McIntyre, Derren Bodine and Mike Sattman have each filed for the two seats. The election is in April.

Next, the Board spoke about their efforts to improve their evaluation systems for teacher and administrators. Dr. Barger presented a bid from Learning Sciences for their i-Observation system and software.

The costs for this solo effort would be $32,240 in year one, $38,597 in year two, and $5740 per year after that. These costs include training, software and support for the District. The District could go in with other Districts in a consortium, which would reduce costs for R-3, but would also put them at the mercy of other partners for training times.

The program seeks to help teachers and administrators prform better through constructive observations, more fluid dialogue, and training to improve weaknesses. The program is used throughout the state of Florida, and is also used in Oklahoma as a state evaluation tool.

President Vogel asked Dr. Barger to guarantee that his budget for the next school year would meet all requirements, even if the District chose to go with the solo cost of this program. Dr. Barger noted that this was one of the top two priorities that the Board and he had agreed on for the coming budget, and that he would meet his targets.

Page 2 of 2 - The Board will vote on the potential acceptance of this program in future meetings.